Introduction

As Information Technology continues to evolve through the 21^st century, it continues to provide opportunity for the IT professional, who keeps pace with it. As IT professionals strive to remain competitive in the workplace, one area of industry that cannot be ignored is the growth of social networking.

Background

The popularity of social networking sites has continued to increase at a rapid pace. This phenomenon has not only spread nationally, but globally. Many internet users are becoming members of these online communities. As more people become internet savvy, this trend is not expected to end anytime soon. Social networking has been found to be a viable means for people with like interests to communicate with each other.  .

According to Hitwise, In 2007, internet traffic to the top social networking sites rose by 11.5% from January 2007 to February 2007 alone. The top social networking sites were as follows: 

According to smallbiz.com, ‘ Social-Networking Sites Create a Lucrative Business’. A lot of these websites are supported by advertising dollars and can be quite profitable for startups as well as
large corporations.  Social networking sites can create traffic and therefore generate business.

Because of the business that can be generated from these social networking sites, jobs are created and talent is sought that can build a competitive edge for these websites. This need creates job opportunities for IT professionals.

Purpose of Study

The aim of this study is to determine what types of hiring trends exists among some of these social networking sites. Job growth for IT professionals within this industry should be favorable  . It would  be assumed that someone would have to create the website and maintain it.  The objective of this study is to confirm that  hypothesis, by  looking at the types of jobs listings that are being posted to certain websites. The aim is also to determine if there is a pattern to what  some of the most needed jobs are for those who are seeking employment with a social networking organization.

Findings

Research was done on approximately 22 sites. The sites that were evaluated were as follows:

There were a variety of jobs listings found on these websites. The majority of job listings pertained to web developer or web programmer jobs. Web developers are characterized as using scripting languages to work on websites, while web programmers could be characterized as working more with programming languages such as C++. Per Wikipedia, web applications often contain two or more tiers. Web Developer jobs can therefore be categorized  as either client side or server side jobs, A developer may focus on the technologies sent to the client such as HTML, JavaScript and CSS.  On the other hand, other developers may focus on the server side, using frameworks such as Perl, Python, Ruby, PHP, JSP or .NET. These frameworks would be used to deliver content and scripts to the client. 

The types of web developer jobs that have been found on the reviewed websites are indicated below. Since web developers as well as web programmers typically work with a variety of skill sets, these counts were categorized to indicate so. 

Web Programmer jobs are indicated below, Web Programmer jobs are being categorized as Software Engineer jobs. Although titles varied between companies, the position of a Software Engineer, generally described positions where Java or C++ skills are sought.                       

User Interface Designers often follow processes to create a solution to a known interface design problem. Designers build rapid prototypes and test them with the users to validate or rebut the idea.  According to cloverleaflc.com ‘There has been an exponential growth in interface design’. User interface designers have to determine how to best design a system that allows users to best create their own screen design. Below are the findings for User Interface Designers from the social networking sites researched.

Business Intelligence/ Data Warehouse designers typically analyze data that will help users make better business decisions. According to allconferences.com, The growth in the use of Business Intelligence (BI) in organizations is continuing its dramatic growth. This is because companies recognize the importance of Business Intelligence in reducing costs, increasing revenues, and improving competitiveness..

Below are the findings for Business Intelligence\Data Warehouse Designers

Below are the Networking and Database Administrators. According to www.cbtjobs.com  networking  and database administrator jobs are expected to growth thru up to 27% and 27% respectively thru 2016.  Below are the findings for Networking and and Database Administrators.

Conclusion

There were also jobs needed for Managers.  These jobs ranged from Business Product Managers to Innovation Managers. The hiring trend among the social networking sites appears to be most consistent among web developers and programmers. As the needs for social networking sites continue to grow, There were also other jobs posted for positions such as QA Engineers,  Contributing Editors and Founder Associate. The prospects seems favorable for those interested

in pursuing IT professional  opportunities with social networking sites and are expected to grow

as the social networking industry grows.